Synchronicity
by SilverCrescent17
Summary: 30 Kisses, Neku x Shiki, Post Game. Neku has his life back and his friends are alive and well, but there are some loose ends that need tying up, particularly considering one glasses-wearing girl...T to be safe.
1. Mind's Eye

_**Synchronicity **_

~ 30 Kisses, Neku and Shiki ~

**A/N: **Well, here I go again. 30 Kisses, Neku and Shiki, using the Delta List. Those of you who look at Livejournal and don't see this posted, I'm still waiting for my claim to be approved. Well, without further ado…

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Delta 05: Mind's Eye**

Neku couldn't scan anymore.

He walked through the streets of Shibuya, the black and white player pin in his hand. It was just an ordinary pin now, dead and void of any special power, except for the fact that it was a pin designed by CAT. He stared at the pin, listening for a moment at the music that his headphones were blasting into his ears, drowning out the noise of Shibuya. He still wore them, not to block out people anymore, but just for the purpose for which they were intended—listening to music.

He slipped the pin into his pocket without even thinking about it, his fingers gently brushing over its surface as he looked around. It was almost a relief to have to move out of the way as people passed by, knowing that if they bumped into him, they wouldn't just pass through him. He was alive again, completely alive. The pins that decorated the outside of his school bag were nothing more than accessories now, no longer having the powers that they once possessed. He could no longer read minds and attack Noise, move things with only his mind, sync with his partners or see other Players,.

And he wouldn't have it any other way.

For a moment, he thought he could feel the pin in his pocket, weighing him down, reminding him of those three weeks he had spent in the Reaper's Game. Yes, those three weeks were horrible, traumatic weeks, but that didn't mean he wanted to forget them, because in forgetting them, he would forget the things that he learned and the people that he met. He would forget all he had lost, and all he had gained.

Because even though he lost everything, he had gained so much more…

So lost was he in thought and in his music, that he didn't notice where he was until he felt something jump on his back, its arms wrapping around his neck. He pitched forward from the weight of it, only to have a strong arm encircle his neck and ruffle his hair. Neku looked up and pushed the headphones back so that they fell around his neck, actually smiling when he saw that his attacker had been none other than Rhyme, and the second person was her older brother, Beat.

He looked around, noticing that he was on Cat Street, and in front of WildKat, no less. Even when he wasn't really thinking about it, he guessed that his feet carried him there of their own accord.

"Hi, Neku!" said Rhyme, letting go of him and dropping to the ground behind him.

"Yo, what's up, Phones?" asked Beat, letting go of him as well.

He looked at the two of them. Rhyme had never really been his partner, and he hadn't had much of a chance to get to know her in-game. He had only really met her a handful of times, and she was erased really early on. Still, she was Beat's partner and sister, and an honorary member of their circle. _Nakama…_as Shiki would say it. She was sweet, nice, and intelligent, and kept Beat in line much better than any of them could.

Beat was his partner in the third week, and even though Beat could be an annoying loudmouth who acted before he thought, he was still his partner…no, his friend. And he trusted his friends. Even though being partnered to Beat in the third Game made him a little bit nervous, he didn't think that he would have it any other way, because if it wasn't for Beat partnering with him, he wouldn't be standing here today.

"With that distracted look on your face, I'm impressed you found the way here, Neku," said Joshua, leaning against the doorframe and turning his eyes away from his phone to smirk at Neku and tuck a strand of silvery hair behind his ear.

Joshua…Joshua had used Neku as his proxy in all three rounds of the Game. It was _because _of Joshua that Neku even had to play in the first place. He didn't think he could forgive Joshua for that, but at the same time, it was because of Joshua that he was even here, and not going back to his old way of living, so he supposed that what Joshua did wasn't all bad. And no matter how hard it was to forgive him, he trusted Joshua. "Trust your partner," after all. He raised a hand in greeting.

"Hey, Josh, Beat, Rhyme," he said, "Am I late?"

"Just about," said a voice from behind him.

He turned around, smiling as Shiki came into view. It was still a little strange seeing her like this, with brown hair and glasses, but appearances aside, it was still the same Shiki, still the same annoyingly cheerful girl who had dragged him around Shibuya for the first week. He didn't need to be able to scan to know that she was still the same person inside. She smiled back, and for a moment, the day seemed just a little brighter. It was Shiki that had brought him out of his shell for the first time, Shiki that taught him how to care for other people. All of these people made him into what he was now, but it was Shiki that had started it, and Shiki at the center of it.

"Shiki…" said Neku, smiling and nodding at her.

"Hi, Neku," said Shiki, smiling as well. "I have something for you…"

She pulled out something from her bag, pressing it into his hand. He opened his hand, smiling again when he saw three brightly wrapped Hershey Kisses sitting in his palm. He watched as Shiki distributed some to Beat and Rhyme, and (reluctantly) to Joshua. In the past, he would have thrown these away, saying that they were too sweet…

…But now he wasn't stupid enough to throw away Shiki's kisses.

It was almost funny, how much his world had changed. And it was ironic, in a sense, that after his mind's eye closed, his real ones opened…

…It was ironic how he had to die before he could truly learn how to live.


	2. Strange Things

_**Synchronicity **_

~ 30 Kisses, Neku and Shiki ~

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**A/N: Those of you that go to Livejournal and don't see this there, I'm still waiting for my claim to be approved. Enjoy! **

**I'm not really happy about how this chapter turned out. I think it was a little too rushed, but I wrote it in a hurry, and the idea was really big. Anyway, here it is. **

**Delta 19: Strange Things…**

Neku closed the door to his room and collapsed onto his bed, pressing his palm to his cheek. What a day. He couldn't remember a day this weird since the day he first woke up in the middle of the Scramble for his first try at the Game. He listened to the rain pouring outside his window, not even bothering to change out of his wet clothes. He could hear his mother nagging him about getting sick, but his mind was somewhere else now. He sighed and raised his hand, staring at it…

…It all started after class that day.

Beat and Rhyme had to go home early, something about a family occasion, and Shiki had a club meeting, so the four of them had decided not to hang out like they usually did after class. He was debating with himself whether to head towards Udagawa, his usual haunt before he died, found friends, and came back (in that order), head towards WildKat to buy a cup of coffee and hang out with Mr. H, go to Towa Records and find more music for his headphones, or just go home. None of them really seemed fun anymore by himself, and besides, places like Udagawa just didn't feel comfortable anymore, especially when he was alone.

Maybe going home and spending some time with his family wouldn't be a bad idea. After his "death" they seemed to want to talk to him more anyway. It was hard telling them about the Game, and there were a few moments when he thought his mother was going to faint, but at the end of it all, they were just happy that he was back. He was surprised that they believed everything he said without asking, but then again, he supposed that it was obvious to them that he had changed, and there had to be something behind that.

He put his hands in his pockets as he waited at the corner for the crossing signal to turn green. He decided he would go home early for a change, maybe help his mother with dinner, for all he was a disaster within ten feet of a stove. The signal turned green, and he took a step forward. Neku let out a cry of surprise, suddenly finding himself being pulled back by the collar of his school uniform.

"Whoa—what—?!?" he began, turning around to see Shiki with one hand around his collar and one hand on her knee, bent over and almost out of breath. People walked all around him, talking to each other as they crossed the street, and for one moment, he was reminded of waking up in the middle of Scramble again.

"Shiki?" he asked, "What's wrong?"

The moment the words came out of his mouth, he knew what was wrong. Shiki was standing in front of him, but her bag only had books in it. There was no sign of that stuffed black pig that she had brought to school this morning, for "good luck" during the test they were having.

"Mr…Mr. Mew!" said Shiki, looking up to face Neku, "He's gone!"

"He's gone?!?" asked Neku, "What do you mean?"

"He…he…I…he…" began Shiki, still panting. Neku sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Shiki," he said, "Take a deep breath, calm down, and tell me what happened."

Shiki nodded, took a deep breath, and relaxed a bit. She straightened up, wiping the sweat from her brow. "The club meeting was cancelled, so I was sitting in the room talking with Ai and Mina. I was showing them Mr. Mew. Then, Eri saw me and invited me to go shopping with her. Since you, Beat and Rhyme already left, I went with Eri. And I left Mr. Mew there!"

"So go back to the club room," said Neku, "He's probably still there when you left him."

"But that's just it, Neku, he's _gone_!" said Shiki. "I already went back to the club room!"

Neku frowned and scratched the back of his head. "Well he can't have just gotten up and walked off…" He stopped talking as he remembered how Mr. Mew had been walking around by himself during the Game. Okay, maybe he could. He shivered slightly at the thought. Something about that really did creep him out a bit.

"Okay," he said, noticing that Shiki was close to tears, "We'll go back to the club room. Maybe someone just put him away."

"…Okay," said Shiki.

Neku sighed and turned away from the street, heading back towards the school. He half expected to get a text message, saying something like "Find Mr. Mew. You have one hour. Fail and face erasure". He placed his hands behind his head as he walked. Shiki walked beside him, a worried look on her face. It was just like during the Game, except Shiki had her own body back now.

"Don't worry about it," he said as they neared the school building, "We'll find him. We've dealt with worse."

Shiki stopped and looked at him for a moment, then, she smiled. "Yeah!" she said, "We'll find him! Losing isn't an option!"

Neku found himself smiling as well. It was hard not to smile when Shiki was smiling at him. "Exactly," he said.

The two of them entered the building, and Shiki led him through the halls into the club room. By now, it was empty, and it was getting dark. He frowned and looked around. There was no sign of any black stuffed pig.

"I left him here," said Shiki, pointing at an empty chair. Neku frowned, walking over to the teacher's desk and glancing at some of the cabinets in the room.

"Someone might have put him away," he said, opening one of the drawers and starting to look.

Shiki started looking through the cabinets as well. The sky outside began to grow darker. Neku paused to look at it for a moment, hoping it wouldn't rain. He looked up suddenly, instinctively reaching for the pins in his pocket when he heard the sliding door open.

"Are you guys looking for that stuffed cat?" asked Mina, walking into the room. "Ai has him. She mentioned something about going down to the music room."

Shiki immediately looked up, her expression brightening as she ran over to Mina and gave her a hug. "Thanks, Mina!" she said, "You're a lifesaver! Come on, Neku!" She ran past Mina and out into the hallway.

"Hey, wait!" said Neku, quickly slamming the drawer shut and chasing after her.

Since when did Shiki get so fast? She was already halfway down the hallway by the time he started chasing her. She ran into the music room like she was being possessed by something. He shivered slightly. _That _wasn't a good memory either. Fighting a possessed Shiki was one of the hardest things he had to do.

"Ai!" said Shiki, throwing open the door of the music room and running inside. Neku followed after her. Ai was sitting in the corner of the room, talking to some boy Neku guessed was her boyfriend. Ai looked up when they entered.

"Ai, where's Mr. Mew?!?" asked Shiki.

"The stuffed cat?" asked Ai. "Atsushi took him. He says he lives near you, and he can drop it off at your house. He mentioned stopping by 104 on the wa—."

"Thanks, bye!" said Shiki, grabbing onto Neku's wrist and pulling him out of the room before Ai could even finish her sentence. Before he knew it, he was being dragged out of the school and back to the Scramble crossing.

"We have to get to 104!" said Shiki, "Or…"

"We'll get erased?" asked Neku.

Shiki paused for a moment to glare at him. "Not even funny, Neku," she said.

"Relax, Shiki," said Neku, "Piggy will be fine…"

"He's a _cat_!!!" said Shiki, practically dragging Neku across the street towards 104. Neku sighed and began running as well. He could hear thunder rumbling in the sky above and frowned. He really hoped it didn't rain. Already it was starting to get really dark. He followed Shiki into the 104 building.

"Atsushi?!?" shouted Shiki, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Atsushi?!? Atsushi, where are you?!?"

"Shiki, calm down," said Neku, sighing as people began to stop and look at them. "There has to be about a million Atsushis out here, and besides, people are staring at us."

"But…but…" began Shiki.

"Misaki?" asked a voice from the crowd. Neku watched as Atsushi elbowed his way through the crowd. He couldn't believe it. He had actually been here all along.

"Atsushi, thank goodness," said Shiki, "Where's Mr. Mew?"

"That's what I wanted to talk about," said Atsushi, "I put him down for one moment by Mus Rattus, and the next thing I knew, some guy in a black jacket with a red cloth over his face was picking him up and walking off with him. I'm sorry, Misaki…"

The rest of Atsushi's words were lost as Neku and Shiki exchanged glances, then ran towards the entrance of 104. They were standing right outside the building, both of them looking around.

"BJ," said Neku, "It has to be BJ."

Shiki nodded. "But where is he now?"

"Wouldn't he be at A-East?" asked Neku, "777 is having a performance tomorrow night, right?"

"Yeah," said Shiki, "Alright, let's go to A-East!"

They were halfway to A-East when the weather finally decided it had held out long enough. Rain began to pour, and it was all Neku and Shiki could do to find an awning before they could get drenched. Neku frowned as he stared at the downpour. There was no way they could get to A-East in that without getting drenched. Shiki was apparently thinking the same thing, because she frowned and looked at him.

"Ne…Neku," she said, "I think I'm just going to go to A-East alone…You should go home. I'm sorry for dragging you around for all of this."

Neku frowned and looked at her, then shook his head. "Let's go," he said, "Just to A-East, right?"

"But…the rain," said Shiki, "And it's getting really late too."

Neku sighed, putting his hands in his pockets. True, he could just go home, but what kind of friend would he be if he did that? He turned towards Shiki. "It's important to you, right?" he asked. "That pig?"

"He's a cat…" said Shiki, but she nodded anyway.

"Then let's go," said Neku, "If it's important to you, then why are we standing around?"

And before Shiki could say another word, he stepped out into the rain…

Thirty minutes later, he and Shiki were standing on the street corner, the rain still pouring down around them as Shiki held Mr. Mew close to her. It turned out that BJ found Mr. Mew, recognized it as belonging to Shiki, and brought it to the Concert Hall for safekeeping. After running through Shibuya in the rain, the two of them came to the place where they would have to part ways, Neku going to the left, and Shiki going to the right.

"Thanks again, Neku," said Shiki, "For everything."

"No problem," said Neku, "That's what friends are for, right?"

"Yeah," said Shiki, smiling at him as she hugged Mr. Mew. "Good night."

"Night," said Neku.

Shiki stood on tiptoe, her lips gently brushing against Neku's cheek. Neku froze in place, his cheeks turning pink as Shiki blushed and turned away, running down the road. Neku paused for another moment, then raised his hand to his cheek. Then, he pulled up his headphones, switching them on and letting the music play as he walked back home, his hands in his pockets as the rain poured around him.

Crazy girl…What a strange day…

…Then again, stranger things had happened…

**Review Responses: **

**Kisdota-The-Freak-Gamer: **I'm really glad you liked it! Hopefully I can actually finish this. The themes for this one are so much harder than the themes for the Joshua x Rhyme story I'm writing, those came to me right off the bat.

**AntiSora: **Thank you, I'm glad you like this! Honestly, thanks guys. It's reviews like this that make me continue even when ideas aren't coming. It's getting a little hard to think of the next theme, so it might take a little while, but I'll get it up! ^__^ And thanks for reviewing **Shiro, Kuro **too. Don't worry, if I post up a chapter there, another one will be coming here soon enough!


	3. Busted

_**Synchronicity **_

~ 30 Kisses, Neku and Shiki ~

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**A/N: Those of you that go to Livejournal and don't see this there, I'm still waiting for my claim to be approved. Enjoy! **

**This chapter's a little shorter than usual. Sorry, inspiration was running a bit dry tonight. **

**Delta 22: Busted**

Shiki didn't bring up the subject of that kiss on the cheek when Neku saw her at school the next day, although she did turn pink and smile when he greeted her. Neku turned slightly pink as well when he greeted her. Neither of them noticed the glances Beat and Rhyme exchanged behind their backs, or the knowing looks shot from Ai to Mina to Eri, although Neku did start to get a little uncomfortable when Beat and Rhyme kept looking at them over lunch on the rooftop.

"So, what d'you guys wanna do later, Phones?" asked Beat, leaning over after finishing his lunch, "Rhyme and I've got some free time today."

"Well, unless Grandma still wants to see us," said Rhyme, smiling, "She's not leaving until tomorrow, so…"

"We understand," said Shiki, "You have to spend time with your family too, right?"

"Yup," said Rhyme, "But Mom and Dad are taking her out tonight, so, we're not going to be busy. Do you guys have anything you want to do?"

Neku shrugged, picking up another bite of his lunch with his chopsticks and popping it into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed. "Not really," he said, "What do you guys want to do?"

"Well, we could go eat at Ramen Don," said Rhyme, "We haven't been in a while, and the food there's good and in our price range."

"Sounds like fun," said Shiki, smiling, "I could go for some shio ramen."

"Miso for me," said Rhyme, still smiling as she continued to eat her lunch.

"Shoyu," said Neku, raising his hand slightly. He picked up his chopsticks and finished off the last of his meal.

"Tonkotsu for me, yo!" said Beat.

"Then it's settled," said Rhyme, "We'll meet you guys at Ramen Don at six tonight. Check your phones, because we'll let you know if we can't make it."

And so the plan was set. The bell rang in the distance, and all of them picked up their trash and went to their separate classrooms. Neither Shiki nor Neku noticed Beat and Rhyme touching their closed fists together when their backs were turned.

That night, Neku made his way towards Dogenzaka. He found Shiki leaning against a lamp post outside Ramen Don, but he didn't see any sign of Rhyme or Beat. He walked over to Shiki.

"Hey," he said, raising his hand in greeting.

"Uh…hey…" said Shiki, smiling at him, turning pink, and looking away. Neku felt the tension in the air rise and the heat go to his own face as he leaned against the lamp post as well, standing on another side of it as Shiki. After a few minutes, he cleared his throat.

"Beat and Rhyme not here yet?" he asked, trying to make it sound like there was nothing on his mind and trying not to think about how she was standing right next to him. He tried not to think about last night.

"No," said Shiki.

He heard the rustle of cloth and turned towards her. She had taken her phone out of her pocket and was playing with it, flipping it open and closed. He glanced at his own phone. Still no text from either of them. People passed them by on all sides, mostly ignoring them. For a moment, Neku felt as if he was in the Game again, waiting for a mission. But, no, the Game had never let him get as far as nighttime.

_Beep. Beep. _

Neku glanced at his own phone as it rang. Shiki looked up, turning towards him.

"Is it them?" she asked.

"Mm," said Neku, opening the message, "It's from Rhyme. Their parents canceled and they're staying home with their grandmother tonight. She says to go ahead."

"S-So I guess we better go inside then," said Shiki.

"Y-Yeah," said Neku, looking away as he put his hands in his pockets. Okay, this was stupid. Why was he so nervous?!? It was just Shiki. He had never had any problem talking to her before.

They entered the Ramen Don and took seats at the counter. Neku ordered one bowl of shoyu ramen and Shiki ordered one bowl of shio ramen. In just a few very awkward minutes, their orders arrived. Neku and Shiki exchanged glances.

"So…um…ittadakimasu," said Shiki, picking up her chopsticks and pulling them apart.

"Yeah," said Neku, doing the same, "Ittadakimasu."

They ate in silence, occasionally stealing glances at each other as the tension in the air mounted. Finally, once the last of the ramen was gone and he had no excuse for ignoring her any longer, Neku took a deep breath.

"So…about last night," he and Shiki said at the same time.

"Sorry!" said Shiki, quickly, "I…um…I didn't mean to…um…"

"N-No, it's fine," said Neku, waving his hands in front of her as if dismissing the apology. He was sure that his face was red again. Why was it that things like this made everyone look like a complete idiot?!?

"Still, I…" said Shiki, "Um…sorry…"

Neku sighed, and looked away. He took a deep breath, then asked the question that had been weighing on his mind since last night. "Did it mean anything?" he asked.

The silence was long and uncomfortable. Shiki wasn't looking at him, and he suddenly found himself very interested in the far corner of the counter. When Shiki spoke, she was so quiet that he had to strain to hear her.

"I…I think it did…" she said, "I'm…not sure…"

She trailed off, silence following her statement. Neku could hear his heart pounding in his ears as he turned to look at her. Shiki…did he feel anything like that for Shiki? She was his friend…possibly his best friend, and he cared about her enough to risk his neck for two weeks just to save her life, but did he care about her in _that _way? He didn't know. It was hard enough understanding what it was like to have friends!

"I…I'm not sure too," he said, turning to look at her, "So…don't worry about it. Let's just…let's just let things go back to the way they were before, for now…"

Shiki looked up at him, then slowly nodded. He suddenly noticed that the seats at the Ramen Don's counter were pretty close together. Sitting like this, there wasn't even a foot of space between them…and suddenly he was leaning downward, and she was leaning up, and the space between them was becoming smaller and smaller…

_Click. Flash. _

"Gotcha," said a small voice from behind them.

They sprang apart, turning around to see Rhyme standing in the doorway, smiling at them with a camera in her hands. Beat was standing behind her, grinning at them.

"Phones, Shiki, you two are so busted!" he said.

"Beat!" said Neku, eyes wide.

"Rhyme!" said Shiki, her eyes wide as well.

Rhyme smiled. "Grandma left yesterday," she said, "That's why we couldn't come with you."

Neku and Shiki exchanged glances, then stood up. Rhyme and Beat looked at each other, then laughed and ran out the door. They could deal with this later. For now, they had friends that needed catching, and a certain camera that needed destroying.

"Neku and Shiki, sitting in a tree~" sang Rhyme as Shiki chased her down the street. Neku, meanwhile, set his sights on Beat who was trying to make a run for it on his skateboard.

…Those two were so dead.

**Review Responses: **

**Samurai Ryo: **Here's another chapter for you! Thanks for the review and I'm glad you liked it.

**AntiSora: **Did I manage to catch you before you left for Japan? I really hope you have a good time there. Going to Japan is on my list of things to do before I die XD. Anyway, here's another chapter, and I hope you like it. Sorry this one's so short!

**Kisdota-The-Freak-Gamer: **Thank you, I'm glad you liked it! ^__^ Hopefully this chapter is still good, because I'm not so sure about the quality of it. It was just a funny idea that came to me because of the theme. I guess an "almost kiss" still counts in 30 Kisses? XD


	4. Instrument

_**Synchronicity **_

~ 30 Kisses, Neku and Shiki ~

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**A/N: Those of you that go to Livejournal and don't see this there, I'm still waiting for my claim to be approved. Enjoy! **

**This chapter was somewhat based on the first time I told my boyfriend I liked him xD. Well, it was over the internet and not face-to-face, but I stole a lot of the conversation from him, changed a bit to Neku-ify it. Hope it still works! ^__^**

**Delta 03: Instrument**

The camera was given a proper funeral.

The incident, however, was not forgotten. Rhyme and Beat did their best not to bring it up in the following few days, but the looks they shot Neku and Shiki were enough to tell them that the brother-sister duo hadn't forgotten a thing. Neither Neku nor Shiki forgot about the incident either, but they might as well have, since neither of them brought it up after that. It was just as Neku said. Things were going back to the way they were before…

That was, of course, until one day in the next week, when Atsushi stopped Neku on the way out and asked him to hold on to his guitar for a moment. Apparently, Atsushi had forgotten something in the music room and had to make a quick run to get it. Since the music room was far off and guitars weren't exactly famed for being small, light, and easy to carry, he had been standing at the gates for about five minutes, waiting for some good Samaritan to take his instrument off his hands for a moment.

…Neku just happened to be that person.

As he sat down, wondering what exactly could be taking Atsushi twenty minutes to make a ten minute trip at most, Shiki ran up to him, obviously annoyed at something, judging from the way she was running her hand through her brown hair and stamping her feet on the ground.

"Ugh…that Miyuki!" said Shiki, sitting down on the bench next to him and turning to face him. "Honestly, she thinks just because she has a boyfriend now, that gives her the right to kiss him in all corners of the school, and obviously she has the right to get angry when she's interrupt—."

Shiki paused for a moment, noticing exactly how close she and Neku were sitting. Both of them turned pink and they looked away, suddenly remembering how close _they _were to being in that same predicament. Neku sighed. He had tried to think about it, and all he had come up with was the fact that he _might _think of her in that way, but he wasn't sure. She was his friend, so how did he know they weren't just…really good friends? He cared about her and that was no secret, he just didn't know exactly how far his feelings went…

…Although he did know that if he had romantic feelings towards any girl…it would be Shiki.

"Is that yours…?" asked Shiki after a while, gesturing at the guitar.

"Nope," said Neku, "Atsushi's. He asked me to hold it while he went back to the music room."

Shiki scoffed. "You won't see him for a while," she said, the frown returning to her face as she folded her arms.

"Why?" asked Neku, "Where is he?"

"…With Miyuki," said Shiki.

"Oh…" said Neku, frowning and glancing at the guitar. Quick run to the music room. Yeah, right. He heard Shiki shift position on the bench and frowned, staring down at his hands.

"So…" said Shiki, after a while. He looked up and turned to face her. "Have you…thought about it?"

"I have…" said Neku, sighing. He closed his eyes for a moment. "I'm…not sure. I don't know if I can be sure right now, Shiki…"

"Yeah…" said Shiki, although it sounded like she was trying to hold back tears. "Yeah, I know what you mean…I understand. Sorry, I guess… I think…I like you, Neku…I just wanted to come out and say it…I was being a bit of an idiot…I just..."

"No, relax," said Neku, placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her down, even though he was an inch from panicking himself. He had to stop her from self-destructing until he could find a way to put his thoughts in order. He sighed.

"I honestly…am starting to think…that it's possible…I might feel that way…" he said, taking a deep breath. It wasn't like this was easy for him. A few months ago, he had been ready to push everyone away. But Shiki had been there for him, even then. "I mean…I'd be an idiot not to…I just…need more time to be sure…"

"I understand…" said Shiki, sighing, "Take all the time you need…But…we'll still be friends, right?"

Neku nodded, smiling slightly. "Yeah, of course," he said.

He sighed and looked away. For some reason…that didn't make him feel much better. Shiki looked away as well. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was obviously still embarrassed. He noticed that she was shaking.

"You okay?" he asked, turning to face her…

"Yeah…" said Shiki, smiling slightly, "Nerves, I guess…I can't believe I just did that."

Neku chuckled slightly as Shiki let out a few uneasy giggles. He was still in shock as well. How did one little incident with that stuffed pig turn into something like this. Shiki looked away, and he noticed she was looking at the school building again, at where Atsushi and Miyuki were.

"…He likes her because she's trendy and popular," she said, after a while. There was a hint of annoyance in her voice. "He liked Eri too, for the same reasons, but Eri's picky. She won't go out with someone just because he looks good…"

"And that's not what this is about…if "_this" _is there anyway…" said Neku.

Shiki laughed, "Of course not," she said, tugging at Neku's school uniform.

"For the last time, I don't care about the trends," said Neku, although he found himself laughing slightly, "I have my own sense of style."

"Obviously," said Shiki, smiling at him.

"Hey…" said Neku.

She laughed, and after a while, he found that he was laughing too. They laughed about silly things, inside jokes that only made sense within their little group of four. It was easy to laugh around Shiki, he realized. Then again, maybe that was because they were friends. It was complicated, but…he was starting to have a small feeling that…maybe it wasn't just friendship after all…

Atsushi showed up a while, looking flustered as he picked up his guitar and said a hasty goodbye. Neku and Shiki ignored him for the moment, staying where they were as the sun began to set, staining the school grounds orange.

"Hey, Shiki…" said Neku, when they stood up to leave.

"Yes?" asked Shiki, gathering up her school bags. Neku frowned and took a deep breath.

"I was thinking…well…why don't we…give it a try?" he asked, "…We'll…never know otherwise, right?"

Shiki stared at him for a moment, a look of surprise on her face. Then, she smiled and nodded, her face turning pink again. He looked away, feeling the heat rise to his own face.

"R-Right," said Shiki, "So…um…I'll talk to you tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah…" said Neku, "…Um…do…do you want me to walk you home?"

Okay, this was going to be harder than expected. He found it hard to look at her as he said it. Instead, he suddenly got very interested in the pavement. Hopefully this was one of those things that got easier in time. Hopefully…

"N-No, it's fine…" said Shiki, checking her watch, "Um…Eri and I were going to meet at Dragon Couture anyway…"

"Okay…" said Neku, "So…see you tomorrow."

"See you, Neku," said Shiki, smiling at him. She ran off and Neku watched her leave. He sighed, glancing around at the school grounds again…

…He had a feeling life just got a little more complicated.

**Review Responses: **

**AntiSora: **Yay, I caught you! Hopefully I caught you again! And yeah, haha, hopefully Beat and Rhyme like playing the Game again. They're not in this chapter, so I'll leave the "why" open to interpretation xD. Maybe they're running around the UG again?

**Kisdota-The-Freak-Gamer: **I'm glad that you like it! Hopefully this one still manages to be nice without being too cheesy…Shh…don't tell my boyfriend I stole his dialogue and turned him into Neku XD. I was really running low on inspiration.


	5. Elven

_**Synchronicity **_

~ 30 Kisses, Neku and Shiki ~

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**A/N: Those of you that go to Livejournal and don't see this there, I'm still waiting for my claim to be approved. Enjoy! **

**Delta 17: Elven**

He was pretty sure anime had nothing to do with schoolwork, which was why they had arranged this little get-together in the first place. But somehow, even after his and Rhyme's best efforts to get the study session back on track, Beat, Eri (who was hosting the whole event in the first place) and Shiki seemed more interested in the DVD that Shiki had brought along with her, an anime movie called _Elven. _Finally, Neku and Rhyme sighed, exchanged glances, and declared that if they weren't ready for the test by now, they would never be, so the five of them found places in Eri's living room to play the DVD.

It had been about a week since Neku and Shiki's conversation outside the school gates. Things were...mostly back to normal. Neither of them were really sure exactly where they stood and Shiki did mention that telling her parents about this seemed even harder than telling them about the Reaper's Game for some reason. Both sets of parents looked like they had expected it all along, though, and once Beat and Rhyme were forgiven, Beat clapped them both on the back and said that it was "about time". There weren't any repeat performances from that night at the Ramen Don, though, and Eri's nagging wasn't helping.

Neku sighed and leaned back into the couch next to Shiki, who was sitting between him and Eri. Beat sat on the floor to Neku's left, and Rhyme was lying on her stomach on the carpet, propped up on a cushion. Eri and Shiki were still giggling about something that he was pretty sure had to do with clothes or some boy in class that Eri was eyeing. He sighed, folding his arms and focusing on the movie. He had nothing against coming to Eri's to study for the very important test the next day that everyone else seemed to have forgotten all about, but he wasn't sure exactly how much girl talk he could take.

The movie was simple—the young hero was in love with an elven girl who was kidnapped and taken away and he had seven days to save her—and yet, oddly familiar. By halfway through the movie, the four of them were exchanging glances, although Neku didn't say anything. The last thing he wanted to do was associate himself with the lead hero, who was a little too obnoxious to be anything like him. And the girl was too much of a damsel in distress to be anything like Shiki. Shiki, at least, could hold her own. The fact that she became his entry fee wasn't because she was weak. In fact, they were the strongest pair in the Game, which was _why _it had gotten to the point where she could be his entry fee.

Still, the similarities were uncanny.

When the movie ended, he was surprised to find that he and Shiki were the only ones who managed to watch it to the very end. Beat was snoring by the time the ending credits rolled in, and Rhyme was curled up on the pillow under a blanket, fast asleep. He and Shiki exchanged glances and Shiki stood up, covering the sleeping Eri with a blanket and nodding at Neku. The two of them stepped out of the living room and into Eri's kitchen, leaving the TV on behind them as it played the ending credits, and the ending theme, a song called "Lullaby For You".

"That was…interesting," said Shiki, after a while.

Neku nodded, feeling the heat rise to his face again. "Yeah…" he said, "A little too interesting…"

Shiki nodded. "Like when the elf girl fought alongside that panther familiar…" she said.

"Or when that guy discovered he could use different kinds of magic…" said Neku, frowning in thought. "Shiki, can I see that DVD case?"

Shiki nodded, slipping back into the living room for a moment. She came back with the DVD case in one hand. Neku stared at the front cover. Over the main title was a picture of the main lead with his eyes closed as he cast a spell, with the white-haired bishounen standing next to him, looking to the right and striking a cool pose and the elven girl on his other side. Behind them was the tough-looking soldier who became their ally halfway through the movie, and his little sister was standing right behind the princess. He frowned. This was too weird. For some reason, that picture looked familiar. He turned it over and glanced at the back.

"I should have known…" he said, after a while.

"What?" asked Shiki. Neku held it up and pointed at a footnote at the bottom of the DVD. It read "Distributed by Kiryu Industries."

"That's Joshua's family's company!" said Shiki.

"Exactly…" said Neku, "This is probably Josh's idea of a joke."

Shiki sighed and shook her head. "Honestly…that guy…" she said. Neku nodded.

"Yeah…he has a twisted sense of humor," said Neku, putting the DVD down, "Well, it's just a movie anyway. It didn't even really seem like us…"

"Yeah," said Shiki, "I mean, I really can't imagine you saying all those…um…lines."

Neku nodded. "And you don't exactly seem like the time to scream for help and sit around doing nothing while you were captured."

Shiki nodded again. "And the evil laugh of that villain in the black robe right before he turned into that dragon was really over the top."

"Yeah," said Neku, "I don't understand why the hero didn't just kill him while he was laughing."

"It's a villain rule," said Shiki, "They're invulnerable during the evil laugh."

"Probably," said Neku, "The ending was a little too much too…"

"Yeah, too sweet…" said Shiki.

…The two of them lapsed into an uncomfortable silence as they remembered the ending. The hero and the elf were reunited again, beside the fountain that they met at. The ending theme was just starting to play as the hero and the elf moved closer and kissed. Then it faded to black and the words began to came out. Neku frowned, staring at the DVD again. Was Joshua trying to say something, or was that just executive meddling? After all, even if he did have limitless power in the UG, people in the RG still saw him as a kid.

…He glanced at Shiki, his face slightly red, and noticed that she was looking at him. He shifted uncomfortably, glancing at the floor on his right.

"So…um…" he said.

"Yeah…uh…" said Shiki.

"Hey, Phones! Movie's over! Let's head home, yo!" called Beat, sticking his head in through the kitchen door. Shiki and Neku jumped.

"Y-Yeah!" said Neku, at the same time as Shiki said "Coming!" Beat went back into the living room, walking towards Rhyme.

"We should go…" said Shiki.

Neku nodded and Shiki made her way towards the door. Before she left, Neku took a deep breath, grabbing hold of her wrist to stop her…

…He settled for a quick peck on the cheek before going out into the living room to meet with the others, leaving Shiki standing there for a moment.

**Review Responses: **

**AntiSora: **Haha, maybe. Once again, I didn't mention what Beat and Rhyme were doing in all that time, I'll leave that open to interpretation. Anyway, thanks for the review. I don't think I managed to catch you, but hopefully I'll be done when you get back! ^__^

**Kisdota-The-Freak-Gamer: **Thanks! And thanks for the tip! I think I'll go look over some of the scenes in TWEWY again so I can get some inspiration for this, since it's turning out to be much tougher than my other work. Thanks for the review and I hope you like this one ^__^.


	6. Excuse Me!

_**Synchronicity **_

~ 30 Kisses, Neku and Shiki ~

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**A/N: Those of you that go to Livejournal and don't see this there, I'm still waiting for my claim to be approved. Enjoy! **

**Delta 04: Excuse Me! **

Neku wondered if the teacher hated him or if he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He guessed it was probably a little from both columns, as that particular teacher had been out to get him since the start of the year and he just happened to be walking through the hallways as that teacher was on the hunt for someone who could clean up the art room. Neku couldn't refuse, not because he would actually feel guilty about not helping the teacher, but because she had pretty much shot down all his excuses for leaving.

So there he was, standing in the middle of the art room with a mop in hand, looking at what appeared to be the aftermath of a very colorful bomb blast. Paint was everywhere, most of it still wet, along with a few scattered papers. He sighed and got back to work.

The only good thing about his predicament was that Shiki showed up just as he was getting started and offered to help as well. He was picking up the scattered pieces of paper and placing them in the trash as she went to work scrubbing paint from the walls.

"What happened in here anyway?" she asked after a while, stopping to rest and wipe the sweat off her forehead as she let the sponge fall back into the bucket beside her. "Did they all get attacked by really colorful Noise?"

"That would probably leave _less _of a mess…" muttered Neku, picking up discarded paint tubes and trying to find the best place to put them. "My guess is they had a paint fight…"

"Well," said Shiki, continuing to scrub, "When I find out whose bright idea that was, call Joshua and tell him they'll be joining the Reaper's Game."

"Send them through the UG?" asked Neku, picking up a rag and trying to scrub off paint that was already starting to dry. "It's starting to sound tempting."

"You have more patience than me, then," said Shiki, frowning, "It was tempting ten minutes ago. Now it's a _plan_."

"We didn't fight our way to get back to life so we could get arrested for murder, remember?" asked Neku, "And if we say 'if they win they'll be back in 7 days', we'll get sent straight to the mental health hospital."

Shiki paused for a moment, and Neku heard the sound of her scrubbing the wall. He went back to work as well, then heard her speak up.

"Do you ever wonder sometimes…?" she asked, "…If it was all a dream, I mean…that time in the UG?"

Neku frowned, pausing for a moment in his work. "…It does seem a little…surreal, I guess. But I still have you and Beat and Rhyme, so that's what tells me that I wasn't dreaming. Mr. H is still around and sometimes Josh shows up too, so…"

"Yeah," said Shiki, "The proof that it happened is still there, even though the rest of it seems like a dream sometimes. I mean, if we told anyone about this but the people who knew we were dead, they wouldn't believe it."

"I think my parents thought I finally lost it when I told them and they _knew _I was dead," said Neku, "So…I know what you mean."

"In the end…I guess the only people who can understand what it was like are the people that have been there," said Shiki. "And it's still going on now. I wonder sometimes…when I'm walking down the street, is someone scanning me? Imprinting on me? Was that sudden great idea I had to go down to 104 right in time for a sale because I suddenly remembered the sale, or because some Player was telling me I needed to go there so they could fulfill some mission…stuff like that." She sighed. "I guess sometimes I wonder if I'm really thinking what I'm thinking…or if…"

Neku shook his head. "It's us," he said, "No one's scanning us or imprinting on us. Mr. H said something about it…the Player Pins stop people from scanning us or imprinting on us. That's why Players can't scan other Players, and even though we can't use the pins because we're alive…"

"They still work…" said Shiki. She let out a sigh of relief. "That's good," she said, and she smiled, although Neku couldn't see it with her back turned to him. "For a moment, I was worried that…that time when we were looking for Mr. Mew…and the Ramen Don…and even that conversation we had at school…even though I know school is out of bounds, but still…"

"No…" said Neku, shaking his head, "That was all you…and me."

"That's good," said Shiki. She turned around to smile at Neku. "I'm glad. I wouldn't want to think that anyone was putting words into your mouth or making me think things."

Neku nodded. "We're safe," he said, "Although…" he glanced around the room, "Some of those pins would really be helpful right now if we could use them."

Shiki giggled and poked him in the arm. "Come on," she said, "Time to get this room fixed up the normal way."

It was sunset by the time the room was presentable enough for Neku and Shiki to leave. By that time, the two of them were covered in paint, and the sun was already turning the whole room orange. Most of the room was neat, though, and all but the toughest stains had been removed. He placed the mop back in the closet and turned to face Shiki, who looked just as exhausted as he felt.

"…Thank you for the help," said Neku, "You didn't have to stay, you know. The Iron Maiden only asked me to help out."

Shiki smiled. "No problem," she said, "I'm always here to help." She giggled. "And don't compare Ms. Nakamura to Ironface."

"You're right," said Neku, frowning, "Nakamura's much worse."

"Exactly," said Shiki, laughing slightly. She looked up at Neku, frowning thoughtfully.

"What?" asked Neku, "What is it?"

"You have paint on your face," said Shiki.

Neku frowned, looking around for a mirror. "What?!?" he asked, "Where?!?"

"Right here!" said Shiki, taking out a handkerchief and leaning up so she could wipe the paint off. Neku blushed, glancing at the door. She was way too close. If someone walked in now…

She frowned in concentration, moving a little bit closer as she scrubbed harder at the spot. This close, her hair almost brushed against part of his face. If he leaned down just a little bit…He gulped, feeling the heat rise to his face as he glanced at the door once more.

"There," said Shiki, pulling back a bit so that Neku could look her in the eye. "All better."

Neku was looking straight into her eyes at this point. His heart thudded so hard in his chest that it was almost painful as he found himself placing a hand on her shoulder and leaning down, his eyes half-closing of their own. He was so close to her now…He could feel her breath fanning out over his lips…

…That door…was not going to open anytime soon.

He leaned forward, closing the distance between them and pressing his lips to hers for the first time. He felt Shiki stiffen, holding still for what felt like forever. Just as he was about to move away, she relaxed and kissed him back, her hands going up to circle around his neck, fingers lightly brushing his orange hair as she pulled him closer, and suddenly his world consisted only of Shiki. Nothing else mattered except her, him, and this little part of the world…

The sliding door slid open. He and Shiki jumped apart, faces red as they turned towards the door. A girl was standing there, wearing the school uniform. Her face was red as well.

"I—um—e-excuse me!" said, turning around and running down the hallway. Neku and Shiki laughed nervously, exchanging glances.

"So…um…" began Shiki.

"…Dinner?" asked Neku.

"S-Sure," said Shiki, "Just let me go home and change. Meet you at Hachiko in an hour?"

"…See you there," said Neku, watching as she ran off. He paused for a moment, then, more as a reflex than anything else, he put up his headphones and began to play music as he walked home…

**Review Responses: **

**PMiller1: **Thank you, I'm glad you liked my stories! As for Beat and Rhyme, if you compare the description of the front cover of the DVD with the front cover of the game, you should get a pretty good idea. I didn't really think through who they were though ^__^

**Kisdota-The-Freak-Gamer: **Haha, thanks! I'm glad you liked it and I'm glad you found the idea funny, that was a really hard theme to work with. This one's for you! Finally, an actual kiss in 30 kisses XD.


	7. Fragrance

_**Synchronicity **_

~ 30 Kisses, Neku and Shiki ~

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**A/N: Those of you that go to Livejournal and don't see this there, I'm still waiting for my claim to be approved. Enjoy! **

**Also, this chapter might not be so good. It's nearly 1AM here and I'm half asleep. I just wanted to make sure I got my daily update.**

**Delta 29: Fragrance**

He wondered for the hundredth time exactly how he had gotten conned into going shopping with Shiki.

Neku stood in one of the corners of the Sheep Heavenly shop that he had the misfortune to be standing in, noticing that there were two or three other guys who were sticking to the walls as well. Shiki had gone into the fitting room with about five or six articles of clothing, and if he knew her at all, he knew that she wasn't going to be out for a long time.

He sighed, listening to the annoying pop music that played out over the speakers. If Eri hadn't suddenly had that dentist appointment she completely forgot about, he wouldn't be here at all. But Shiki apparently _really _needed to go shopping, because for one reason another, there was something wrong with the clothes she already owned, and after being dragged through scary places like Natural Puppy, where a salesgirl had tried to get him to wear some of the clothes, Pavo Real, where he swore colors came to _die_, Dragon Couture, which wouldn't be so bad until he was almost certain he saw someone that looked suspiciously like Joshua picking out an expensive looking shirt and smirking at him, and Lapin Angelique…oh, God, Lapin Angelique…Neku was about ready to throw in the towel. He glanced at the assortment of bags in his hands. In the end, Shiki had decided on a dress from Natural Puppy and a pair of shoes that were on sale at Dragon Couture.

"Hey, Neku, what do you think about this?" asked Shiki, stepping out of the fitting room and wearing a pink shirt with white flowers on it. He frowned.

How exactly was he supposed to tell her that he thought she looked exactly the same in just about every outfit she came up with? Why couldn't she be doing this with Eri?!? Or Rhyme, for that matter, although…he wasn't sure exactly how interested Rhyme was in this sort of thing either.

"It's nice," he said, after a while. Shiki frowned, glancing at herself in the mirror.

"Well, it's the nicest thing I've tried on," she said, "So, I'll take it. Wait here and I'll go change back."

Neku breathed a sigh of relief as Shiki left. Good. Now they could finally get out of here and do something more interesting than shopping for clothes. He didn't think that Shiki had any more shops she wanted to visit. She stepped out of the fitting room after a while, walking over to the counter and paying for her purchase. Just as Neku thought the ordeal was over and began walking towards her, she frowned, her eyes turning towards several brightly colored bottles standing on a shelf on the wall.

"Cologne?" she asked, walking over to the bottles. The salesgirl immediately straightened up and ran over to her. Neku inwardly groaned. Now they would _never _be done.

"Our line of fragrances and scents are perfect for girls for any occasion," said the salesgirl, smiling as she handed Shiki one bottle. "For someone with a strong personality like you, you should try this." Shiki sprayed some of it on her wrist, sniffing at it. She frowned slightly in thought. The salesgirl smiled at her, then reached for a pink bottle. "You might also like this," she said.

As Neku watched, she sprayed it on the back of her hand, then sniffed at that as well. Neku sighed and scratched his head as she debated with the salesgirl, a frown on his face as he placed his hands in his pockets and tuned out, listening to the music. He was fully prepared to be in there _forever_, at the rate things were going.

"Which one do you like best, Neku?" asked Shiki after a while.

He opened his eyes and turned to face her. She was standing right in front of him, her right arm outstretched. She turned it over, showing him his wrist. He sighed inwardly. Sooner he got this over with, the sooner they could leave and find something they _both _enjoyed. He leaned in closer, inhaling the scent of her wrist.

Neku frowned as the smell of several different flowers hit his nose. The scent was way stronger than he expected, and it sent him reeling. He could feel himself getting slightly dizzy from it. It really was too overpowering. She turned her hand over and he inhaled the scent near the back of her hand as well. This one was a lighter fragrance, softer and sweeter, but still nothing like Shiki. None of them were really anything like Shiki, and he wondered why she insisted on drowning herself out with all of these things.

"Well, Neku?" asked Shiki. He looked up at her, realizing that she still wanted an answer.

…Neku frowned for a minute, thinking it over. Then, he picked up her left hand and inhaled. This time, he was met with the light scent that was Shiki, laced just barely with the smell of the soap she had used earlier. He looked up at Shiki.

"…Whatever's on this hand," he said, pointing at her left hand.

Shiki looked confused. "But there's nothing on there," she said.

"Exactly," said Neku, smiling at her.

Shiki paused for a moment, then smiled, handing the bottles of cologne back to the salesgirl. The girl looked disappointed, but placed them back on the shelf anyway. Shiki turned slightly pink and leaned up, giving Neku a small kiss on the cheek as Neku held her hand, fingers interlacing with hers. He turned towards her, smiling…

"…So we can go now?" he asked.

He spent the next few hours wondering what exactly Shiki was mad about.

**Review Responses: **

**Vixen's Shadow: **Hi again, guys, thanks for the review! Yeah, but, hey they actually thought there was no one there. And I needed a place where I could use the "Excuse Me!" theme, as well as a reason for them to be there, haha. Anyway, thank you for the review, and thanks for reading! ^__^

**Kisdota-The Freak Gamer: **You're welcome, glad you liked it! ^__^ Thanks for the review, and as always, thanks for reading!


	8. Perennial

_**Synchronicity **_

~ 30 Kisses, Neku and Shiki ~

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**A/N: Those of you that go to Livejournal and don't see this there, I'm still waiting for my claim to be approved. Enjoy! **

**Delta 18: Perennial **

"Bwaaaah!"

Neku and Shiki looked up from their notebooks, seeing Beat with both hands pressed to his head and staring down at his own notebook. He and Shiki exchanged glances, then glanced at Beat, as if wordlessly deciding between themselves who was going to talk to him. Finally, it was Shiki who spoke.

"Having…trouble with your homework, Beat?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Beat, "How the hell am I supposed to use "per annual" in a sentence?"

He and Shiki exchanged glances again.

"It's 'perennial'," said Neku, "It means…something that lasts forever."

Shiki nodded. "Something that will always be there," she added, "Or something that doesn't end."

"Yeah, but how am I supposed to use that?" asked Beat, staring down at the page. "What do you guys have?"

Neku frowned and picked up his notebook. It was about a month since the art room incident and the stories about them at school finally seemed to die down. It looked like he and Shiki were finally old news…finally. He flipped his notebook back to that page and read it aloud.

"It lasted three weeks, but he thought it was perennial," he said. He looked up at Beat. "S'all I got."

He felt Shiki's eyes on him and he shrugged. So it was a little obvious exactly what he was referring to. Nobody but Shiki, Beat and Rhyme would get it anyway. And he wasn't lying…it did feel perennial. Each time, when he thought it was over and he found himself waking up in the middle of the scramble crossing again…he couldn't even walk through the scramble now without remembering that. But at least that ordeal was over, and he was never going to have to face it again. Mr. H. had even warned him to be careful with his life, since the next time he died, he was staying dead…

"Still better than anything I'd come up with," said Beat, "What you got, Shiki?"

Shiki snapped out of it and picked up her own pink notebook with flowers on it, flipping it to the page. "Um…the flowers bloomed perennially," she said. "I mean…it's an adverb, but it still counts, right?"

"Ikegawa will accept it," said Neku, placing his arms behind him and leaning back a bit. "Thankfully the Lady Dragon doesn't teach this class."

"You talkin' about Nakamura?" asked Beat.

"Yeah," said Neku, "I was calling her Iron Maiden until Shiki pointed out that she's much worse than Konishi was."

"Got that right," said Beat, "Lady's evil. I bet she's really a Reaper."

"Nah," said Neku, "I can't see her taking orders from anyone, even if it is Josh."

"She'd try to put him in detention," said Shiki, giggling. Neku laughed a bit at the thought. For some reason, he really could imagine Ms. Nakamura trying to put Joshua in detention, and probably getting erased for her trouble.

"So, so how about this one?" asked Beat, "Josh's a per annual ass."

"Don't be stupid, Daisukenojo," said a voice from behind Beat. Neku and Shiki looked up as Beat turned around. Joshua was standing over them, his arms folded and a frown on his face.

Joshua suddenly smirked, pushing his white hair back a bit. "It's _perennial_," he said, "If you're going to describe me, get the words right."

Joshua turned and walked away. Shiki frowned and Neku sighed. Beat, on the other hand, began furiously scribbling away at his paper. Neku scratched his orange hair. Was Beat actually going to write that down and hand that in?!?

"How does he do that?" asked Neku, watching as Joshua walked away. Shiki shrugged.

"Composer senses tingling?" she asked, giggling a bit. Beat put his pen down, thrusting his fist in the air.

"Aight!" he said, "I'm done! And I gotta meet with Rhyme. See ya, Phones, Shiki!"

Beat got up, grabbed his bag, and left. Neku and Shiki smiled and waved goodbye, then turned back to their homework. They were doing math now, trigonometry to be exact, and no matter how many times Neku tried to stay on track, the phrase "SOHCAHTOA" kept making him think of Minamimoto. He half expected their teacher to pick up a blue megaphone one of these days and declare loudly that they were "so zetta slow!"

The thought of the normally straight-laced Mr. Tsuji actually standing up and calling them "hectopascals", "sons of digits", and "yoctograms", actually made him smile for a moment. He made a mental note to call Josh or Mr. H if Mr. Tsuji ever started randomly piling up the stuff in his classroom and calling it "art".

"What are you smiling at?" asked Shiki after a while.

"Nothing," said Neku, smiling at her. "Just thinking of some things."

"It's nice," said Shiki, giggling. "You normally look so serious. Well, I have to go too, Neku. I promised Eri I'd meet her."

She leaned over, giving him a quick kiss before getting up and walking down the street. Neku watched her leave and smiled, leaning back against the statue of Hachiko as some random group of musicians began to play music. He glanced back at his notebook. It was really amazing how three weeks could change his life so much. A year ago, if someone had told him that this would be his life today, he would have turned the volume up on his headphones and walked away. Now, things like these were starting to be normal.

It was amazing how much Shiki had changed his life, and he was now starting to realize that he was in love with her…

…Perennially.

**Review Responses: **

**Solblade44: **Thanks, I'm glad you liked it, and thanks for the review. I can totally relate about the computer acting weird thing, mine does that all the time. And out of curiosity, Sol Blade…did you get that from Golden Sun, by any chance? Because Golden Sun was my very first game on the GBA and still my favorite GBA game today, just like TWEWY was my first DS game and still my very favorite DS game, haha.

**romeaddict: **Thank you, I'm so glad you liked it and I'm glad you liked the end. Here's another chapter for you ^__^

**Kisdota-The Freak Gamer: **Yeah, xD. I couldn't think of anything else to go with the theme, and Shiki drags Neku to shop with her a lot in the game anyway. And as for the thing at the top of each chap, when you join a writing challenge on Livejournal like 30 Kisses, you join the community then you post a claim request. Then after your claim is approved, you're officially in the challenge, and it's been over a week and I'm still waiting for my claim to be approved, haha. The **Shiro, Kuro **claim was already approved, thankfully.


	9. Wax

_**Synchronicity **_

~ 30 Kisses, Neku and Shiki ~

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**A/N: Those of you that go to Livejournal and don't see this there, I'm still waiting for my claim to be approved. Enjoy! **

Ugh…combination of being half-asleep, having a difficult theme, and just wanting to get it over with made this chapter probably one of the worse ones in this whole fic. Sorry about that…I promise I'll do better tomorrow…Zzzzz….

**Delta 09: Wax**

Of all the annoying times for the power to go out…

Neku had never been more thankful for laptop computers than when he saved his report _after _the lights went out. None of them had expected that the thunderstorm that they were told to expect would get this bad, or that it would take out the power. Now it looked like they would have to stay the night.

…He could think of worse things than getting stuck with Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme in the middle of a powerout though. Even if he was stuck in Shiki's house with Shiki's father glaring at him every two seconds.

"This sucks, man…" said Beat, placing his hands behind his head and lying down on the carpet of Shiki's living room. "Can't even watch TV or play some tunes to pass the time…"

Neku glanced at Beat, then sighed, turning up the volume on his laptop and playing his playlist. Beat let out a whoop of triumph, sitting up and punching his fist into the air.

"Alright, Phones!" he said, before rapping along to _Owari-Hajimari. _

From the dim light of the laptop screen, he saw Rhyme smile. She was sitting on her knees on the table across from them.

"You know what they say," she said, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

"I could go for some lemonade," said Beat.

Rhyme and Neku exchanged glances and sighed.

The sliding door opened, and Shiki stepped into the room, carrying three candles and a lighter with her. Neku and Rhyme stood up to take candles from her and light them. Neku held his candle over the plate on the table for a moment, letting the wax drip on it before placing the candle on the melted wax. When he was sure that the candle would stand, he let go. Rhyme and Shiki finished as well, placing the plates around the room as the rain poured outside.

"Dad called the power company," said Shiki as the four of them sat in the living room. Beat lay on the floor on his side, facing them with his head propped up in his hand. Shiki and Neku sat side by side, Shiki sitting on her heels while Neku leaned against the wall. Rhyme was lying down on her stomach, propping herself up on a cushion. "They say it shouldn't last more than an hour or so…the lightning just short circuited a few things."

"It ain't so bad," said Beat, "At least we've got Phones' laptop."

"Yeah," said Rhyme, "And the candles, at least we have that."

Neku nodded, watching as the wax dripped down the side of the candle. At least the power outage wouldn't last long enough for the candle to burn out completely. A little time passed and eventually Beat and Rhyme fell asleep, judging from Beat's snoring and Rhyme's quiet breathing. Shiki leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder. He felt a pair of eyes bore into the back of his head and turned around just in time to see vague outline of Mr. Misaki standing in the living room doorframe. He sighed.

…There were worse things, and hopefully in time he wouldn't refer to him as 'that Sakuraba boy'.

"…Dad watching you again?" murmured Shiki, her eyes half-closed. Her hand nudged against his and he placed his hand on top of hers, slowly interlacing his fingers with hers.

"…Yeah…" he said.

Shiki moved her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes fully. In the dim light of the candles, he thought he saw her cheeks flush for a moment.

"…Don't worry about it…" murmured Shiki, "He doesn't hate you…"

"…Yeah…" said Neku. He glanced back at the door for a moment before closing his eyes as well, leaning his head against Shiki's. He turned his head, his lips lightly brushing her head as he felt sleep overcoming him. He heard footsteps moving away from the door and down the hallway…

Neither of them noticed when the power came back on, both of them staying in that position until morning.

When morning came, the candles were completely burned out, leaving behind spots of dried up wax on the plates they had been set in. Mr. Misaki glared at Neku the whole time they were having breakfast, but…he was able to wake up next to Shiki that morning.

…He could think of worse things.

**Review Responses: **

**Solblade44: **Yes, hopefully Neku doesn't die again, at least until he's old and gray and lived out a happy life (with Shiki, haha). And now I can't get the picture of Josh as Spider Man out of my head either xD. Last night was just a random comment, but now it looks like it stuck.

And, yes, Golden Sun was a great game! Unfortunately, I only got to play the Lost Age once, and now my game is dead! I have no idea what happened but I can't play it anymore, although I can still play the first game, *headdesk*. Sorry this chapter didn't turn out so well, I'm currently half-asleep, haha.

**Kisdota-The Freak Gamer: **Haha, yeah, things are going great for them. And, yeah, 21 chapters left! Sorry this chapter turned out so horrible, but I'll do my best to make up for it tomorrow. I'm already starting to get ideas for tomorrow's chapter! ^__^


	10. Jello

_**Synchronicity **_

~ 30 Kisses, Neku and Shiki ~

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**A/N: Those of you that go to Livejournal and don't see this there, I'm still waiting for my claim to be approved. Enjoy! **

**Delta 30: Jello**

"So I put the water in this mold?" asked Neku, holding up the pot of bubbling water.

Shiki picked up the box on the counter, turning it over and reading the instructions. It was Beat's birthday the next day, and all of them had decided to pull together a surprise party. Rhyme said that she would handle most of the cooking if the two of them could put together dessert. Anyone could make cake with cake mix, right? Wrong.

Two hours and two burnt cakes later, Neku and Shiki were starting to feel a little desperate, and so they grabbed the first thing they found on the top shelf of one of the cupboards in Shiki's kitchen—a box of jello. A jello dessert was probably better than nothing at all.

"Mix it with the water first, then pour it into the mold," said Shiki.

Neku nodded, taking the packet from her and cutting it open. Shiki leaned over, watching as he poured the mix into the boiling water and stirred it. She backed up, leaning back on the stool as Neku poured it into the mold.

"What next?" he asked, frowning slightly.

"Um…mix in two cups of cold water and let it set. That's it really," said Shiki, looking over the box one more time to make sure she had everything.

Neku nodded, walking over to the fridge and taking out a pitcher of water. Shiki helped him measure out two cups, pouring it into the mold. Neku picked up the mold and placed it in the fridge. He had scarcely closed the door when Shiki leaned over a bit too far, and the next thing he knew, Shiki screamed and there was a loud crash from behind him.

"Shiki!" said Neku, turning around quickly.

Shiki was lying on the ground with the fallen stool next to her, her glasses lying a few inches away from her. She turned over so that she was staring at the ceiling.

"…Ow…" she said, rubbing her head. Neku ran over to her, bending down so that he was closer.

"Are you alright?" he asked, holding out a hand to help her up. She took it, breathing in slowly as she sat up, holding on to her back. She rubbed the back of her head. Neku heard hurried footsteps coming down the stairs and the sliding door to the kitchen opened, revealing Shiki's father standing in the doorway.

"What happened?" he asked.

"…I fell over…" said Shiki, rubbing the back of her head. Neku placed a hand on her shoulder, picking up her glasses and handing it back to her. Shiki nodded in thanks, slipping the glasses back on. Mr. Misaki walked over to her as well, bending down on her other side.

"Really…Neku, Dad, I'm fine," said Shiki, "Just a bump on the head, that's all…"

"Are you sure?" asked Mr. Misaki, glancing from Shiki to Neku. "No lightheadedness, no dizziness, no double vision?"

"Nothing," said Shiki, "Just a little winded…and I think I'm going to feel that tomorrow…"

"Okay…" said Mr. Misaki, getting up and extending a hand out to her at the same time as Neku did. Shiki took both hands, pulling herself to her feet as Neku straightened out the chair. It was only then that Mr. Misaki seemed to notice the mess in the kitchen.

"What happened here?" he asked, looking over the cake batter spread everywhere and the mountain of dishes in the sink. Shiki and Neku exchanged embarrassed glances.

"We were trying to make cake…" said Shiki, "It didn't work out so well…"

"We'll clean up," said Neku, "…sir," he added hastily.

Mr. Misaki glanced from one to the other, his gaze settling on Neku for an uncomfortable amount of time. Then, he sighed and nodded. "Get it done before your mother gets home," he said to Shiki, "You know how she gets."

"We will," said Shiki, smiling as he left. Once he was gone, she turned to Neku. "…I thought he'd never leave," she said.

Neku frowned. True, Mr. Misaki was actually tolerating him instead of actively chasing him away like any other boy that tried to get close to Shiki, but that was because he was friends with her first. Granted, Mr. Misaki had never been too nice to him or Beat whenever the two of them were around, although now that he and Shiki were together…Beat was very happy that Shiki's father was starting to warm up to him.

…Now if only Neku could say the same. He picked up a wet rag, beginning to scrub at some of the cake stains on the counter as the jello chilled in the refrigerator. True, Mr. M wasn't giving him death glares every two seconds anymore, but he still didn't seem too happy about the whole idea. He wondered if all fathers were like that of if he had just gotten unlucky this time around.

"This place is a mess…" said Neku, looking at the cake mix spread all over the kitchen.

Shiki nodded gravely, picking up the mixing bowl and carrying it over to the sink. Neku turned his head back to his work, only to see Shiki suddenly run towards him, her cake batter-covered hand running across his face. Neku shouted and stepped back, pushing her hand away. She giggled at him. He touched a hand to his cheek, feeling cake mix.

…Oh, so that was how she wanted to play.

"…Shiki," he said, looking up at her. "…You're going to get it now!"

With that, he picked up the other mixing bowl, scraping the cake batter off the sides with his hand and running forward to smear it on her. Shiki giggled, running back towards her own bowl and trying to do the same. Neku laughed, and ten minutes later, the bowls were clean and mostly empty of cake batter, which was on the two of them instead.

"Now we have more to clean up," said Shiki, still giggling.

"Yeah…" said Neku, chuckling a bit, "Thanks a lot, Shiki."

"Well, it's not like you didn't join in," said Shiki, grinning as she tore off one square of a paper towel, handing it to Neku. He wiped his face with it as she got her own paper towel. "So it's your fault too." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"You started it," he said, scrubbing his face with the paper towel to get all of the cake mix off. Shiki did the same. Neku looked up at her, a mischievous glint suddenly appearing in his eye.

"Missed a spot," he said.

"Huh?" asked Shiki, running her hand over her face, "Where?"

"Here," said Neku, placing a finger on her mouth. He leaned in, his lips meeting hers. Shiki closed her eyes, her hands going around his neck as Neku stepped closer to her…

The sound of coughing met his ears and he quickly pulled away, turning towards the doorway. Mr. Misaki was standing there, glaring at him. Shiki looked past him and at the doorway, then let out an 'eep'.

It looked like he and Mr. M were back to square one.

On the bright side, the jello turned out perfectly.

**Review Responses: **

**romeaddict: **Yeah, I know, except I didn't want to break the daily update thing I had xD. Which is…a moot point now since I just broke it, but hopefully updates every two days that are better quality are better than rushed ones. Anyway, here's another chapter for you! ^__^ Thanks for reading.

**Kisdota-The Freak Gamer: ***sweatdrop* I think I know what you mean if you mean what I think you mean and if you mean what I think you mean I'm not very good at writing that. And if that made sense to you, give yourself a cookie, haha. Thanks for the review again, and thank you for continuing to read this story! ^__^

**The Legendaerie L-T: **Yeah, poor Joshua. He's one of my favorite characters, but the poor guy isn't really likeable to the rest of the cast. And I'm sorry for the shortness of the chapters ^__^ It's a little hard working on this and the plot of the other story at the same time, but I'll do my best. Thanks for the review! ^__^


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